Monday, July 28, 2014

Give Low Income Americans Exit Option From Social Security

America is supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave.

But as we become bogged down in our many problems, I see,
unfortunately, a mentality in which we are becoming increasingly a
nation of the unfree – the victim – and the timid, in how we’re
approaching these challenges.

Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman wrote a column this week drawing
attention to the latest dire projections from the Congressional Budget
Office.

CBO projects the nation sinking deeper and deeper into an ocean of red ink.

Under a business-as-usual scenario, the Senator notes, we’ll pile on
another $10 trillion of debt over the next decade and another $100
trillion in the following two decades.

On the spending side, “after averaging 20 percent of the economy over
the past 50 years, spending is projected to jump to 23 percent, 29
percent, and then 34 percent of the economy over the next three
decades…”

At the center of the problem, the Senator continues, driving this
out-of-control spending and borrowing fiscal Titanic are entitlements –
“Social Security, health entitlements, and the resulting interest costs
on the swelling national debt.”

This is a time for action. But we are not getting action, and the
proposals we are hearing typify more the land of the unfree and the home
of the timid.

When Social Security was enacted in the 1930’s it seemed like a good
idea. Everyone working would pay a small tax and those revenues could be
used to pay a retirement stipend to retirees.

But then there were 45 Americans working for every retiree. Because
of longer life spans and shrinking families, this ratio is down to three
to one today.

This makes it impossible for this system to work. CBO projects that
in 20 years there will be no funds to pay one third of the benefits of
retirees.

Among Senator Portman’s proposals are to raise the retirement age and
to means test – meaning to reduce benefits of higher income earners.

But why, in the land of the free, should government tell us when we
can retire? And if the wealthier pay taxes but don’t collect benefits,
Social Security becomes just another big national welfare program.

I have been a long time supporter of changing the whole system,
turning Social Security into a retirement savings program. Instead of
paying a tax and getting a government benefit in the future, just let
everyone invest those funds in their own personal retirement account.

My organization, CURE, is now floating an idea that would help
transition into this type of reform.

We’re calling it the 30/30 plan.

Give every working American 30 years old or younger, earning
$30,000/year or less, the option to stop paying payroll taxes and use
all those funds to invest in a personal retirement account.

Not only would this begin to unwind a hopelessly broken Social
Security system, but also it would start building an ownership society
in the parts of our country where the welfare state has done and is
doing the most damage – among low income Americans.

The stock market is surging today, but little benefit accrues to
low-income earners. According to a Pew Research survey, 80 percent of
households earning $75,000/year or more own stocks, but in households
earning $30,000 or less, only 15 percent do.

Average savings in retirement accounts in white households is $115,990. In black households, it is $17,620.

The 30/30 plan starts to solve our Social Security crisis and also
starts building ownership and wealth in low-income households.

This is a time to return to the first principles of our free society,
to re-embrace those principles, and move forward with courage and
faith.

The 30/30 plan is an approach worthy of the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs

“The point is that there’s one side that is clearly
bent on escalation and one side, that is Israel, that is bent on
defending its people, as any country would under similar circumstances,”
Netanyahu said.

Of Secretary of State John Kerry’s hot mic remark that Israel was
engaging in “a hell of a pinpoint operation,” Netanyahu said he doesn’t
“want to deal with off the cuff remarks.”

“I’ll tell you what my experiences have been. I’ve been in war. I’ve
been in battle. And when you take a surgical operation, you can’t
guarantee when your soldiers are being fired from Hamas homes, that is,
Hamas is targeting people with — from private homes.

And you hit them
back. Of course, some people are going to be hurt. That’s totally
different from deliberately targeting them,” he said. “We asked these
civilians, before we went in, we said, please leave. We text them. We
call them on cell phones. We drop leaflets. We told them where to go.
And those who left were safe.”

“Now, those who didn’t leave, you know what they didn’t leave?
Because Hamas told them to be there, because Hamas, while we try to
avoid Palestinian civilian dead, Hamas wants Palestinian civilian dead.
The more the better, so they can give you telegenic fodder. So this is
the cruelest, most grotesque war that I’ve ever seen. I mean not only
does Hamas target civilians, ours, and hides behind their civilians,...

“On
the call with Netanyahu, Obama stressed the need to enact a
‘sustainable ceasefire’ that both ‘allows Palestinians in Gaza to lead
normal lives, and addresses Gaza’s long-term development and economic
needs while strengthening the Palestinian Authority.’” On the other side
would be “the disarmament of terrorist groups and demilitarization of
Gaza” — but the jihad terror groups would not honor that, and Netanyahu
knows it: “Hamas,” he said, “has broken five cease-fires that we
accepted.” He should not accept Obama’s one-sided demand here, which
would only strengthen the jihadists — like everything else Barack Obama
has done.

“Obama pushes for ‘immediate’ ceasefire between Israel and Hamas,” by Laura Barron-Lopez, The Hill, July 27, 2014:

President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone on Sunday as a ceasefire with Hamas broke apart.

Obama reiterated his “strong condemnation” of rocket and tunnel
attacks against Israel by the militant group Hamas, but also expressed
“growing concern” about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths
in Gaza.

Obama called for an “immediate, unconditional” humanitarian ceasefire, according to a White House readout of the call.

Negotiations to extend a 12-hour truce broke down over the weekend.
Israel says it offered to extend the ceasefire for another 24 hours,
only to see new rocket fire from Gaza. Israel then resumed its own
military actions in Gaza.

“Hamas has broken five cease-fires that we accepted,”
Netanyahu said on Fox News Sunday. “They rejected all of them, violated
all of them, including two humanitarian cease-fires in the last 24
hours.”

On the call with Netanyahu, Obama stressed the need to enact a
“sustainable ceasefire” that both “allows Palestinians in Gaza to lead
normal lives, and addresses Gaza’s long-term development and economic
needs while strengthening the Palestinian Authority.”

Any lasting solution to the ongoing conflict would only occur with
the disarmament of terrorist groups and demilitarization of Gaza, Obama
said.

Shoebat.com also translated what the ISIS spokesperson said during the filming:

In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful
He had fulfilled his promise and defeated the enemy by himself.
Your brothers here, the soldiers of the Islamic Caliphate,
Allah had blessed us a great blessing from him.
He had allowed us to defeat Division 17. This is a victory from Allah.
We thank Allah for our strength and power, and our armament.

Today, and till the day of judgement, devils who Allah had allowed us to defeat, and to be hung in this place, and we ask Allah to complete this victory
the great victory of your brothers in the Islamic Caliphate.

Allah had promised the believers that they will dominate the land as
it was dominated previously. And will strengthen the religion to be
acceptable to him.

“And after their fear he will give them safety to worship me, that
they may not worship others besides me and whoever disbelieves, these
are the wrongdoers. They must worship me! and must associate anyone with
me” (Quran), and that means that they believe in the absolute oneness
of Allah. The nation has been victorious, that its base is the unique
oneness of Allah. Just as Muhammad was victorious in Mecca when he was
surrounded for three years, but the oneness faith has proclaimed itself
in the hearts in the individuals, and Allah gave them victory over the
land. Here are your brothers, by the will he gave them victory with the
oneness of Allah, to defeat the kafirs. But when the oneness was
proclaimed, your brothers were victorious. Here are heads that have
ripened, that were ready for the plucking.

Division 17 is the largest military base of its kind in north-eastern
Syria and is said to be well-stocked with weapons and ammunition.

The ISIS spokesperson continued to speak to each head asking them
“why didn’t you defect” as a warning to other Syrian soldiers. “The
Oneness” the spokesperson mentions is regarding Allah not being Triune
and is the basis of Islam’s war with Christianity. Regardless that the
victims are Shiite, ISIS proclaims it ultimate goal is to establish the
oneness faith over Christianity which believes in the Trinity.

Obama Eyes Giving Millions of Illegals Work Status

As President Barack Obama prepares to announce his executive
orders on immigration in the coming weeks, he is believed to be
considering two major actions: granting temporary relief from
deportation and giving work authorization to millions of illegal
immigrants.

"There are two ways this could go," Marshall Fitz, director of immigration policy at the Center for American Progress, told Time magazine. Obama could either be seen as "the deporter-in-chief, or the great emancipator. Those are the two potential legacies."

What Obama plans to do continues to remain a secret, Time reports, but
aides have declined to say how many of the estimated 11 million illegals
could be helped by his actions.

"He seems resolute that he’s going to go big and go soon," says Frank
Sharry, executive director of the pro-reform group America’s Voice, who
has met with Obama.

"I don’t want to put a number on it," cautioned a senior White House
official, noting that the president planned to take action before the
November congressional elections.

Regardless of the steps he takes, Republicans will charge the president with granting amnesty to millions of illegals.

Obama has requested $3.7 billion in emergency aid from Congress to
address the escalating crisis of illegal minors being arrested at the
South Texas border in recent months — and both Republicans and Democrats
have whacked billions from the request in bills they plan to vote on
next week.

"How Congress chooses to act in the coming hours and days will determine
whether the president succeeds in his plan to nullify the immigration
laws of the United States," Alabama GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions told Newsmax
in a statement on Saturday.

"No member — House or Senate, Democrat or Republican — should support
any bill with respect to the border crisis that does not include
language explicitly prohibiting the administration from taking such
action," Sessions added. "Congress must foreclose any possibility of
these unlawful executive actions before congressional funding is
granted. This is an essential precondition."

The work permit issue is a particular hot button among Republicans, as
the nation grapples with a 6.3 percent unemployment rate — 10.7 percent
for African Americans — and reports that nearly all of the job growth
since 2000 went immigrants, both legal and illegal.

In other words, the number of new jobs obtained by native-born Americans
fell slightly during the period, from 114.8 million to 114.7 million.

During the period, immigrants have obtained jobs across the full
employment spectrum: construction, food service, retailing, office
support, management, computers, and healthcare.

"Immigrants have made gains across the labor market in lower-, middle-,
and higher-skilled jobs," Steven Camarota, the center's research
director, told The Washington Times.

Republicans and those opposing immigration reform argue that granting
more work permits to illegals would drive native-born joblessness even
further, contrary to business leaders and reform advocates who argue
that more immigrants would ease labor shortages in a variety of fields.

"During a time of low wages, high unemployment, and surging welfare
rolls, the Senate bill doubled the existing and expansive rate of legal
immigrant and guest-worker admissions into the U.S.," Sessions charged
in a recent opinion piece for The National Review.

Can The U.S. Go Bankrupt?

When an individual goes bankrupt, he has spent more than his
income. His debts and the interest on those debts exceed all the income
he has to such a degree that they are beyond his ability to repay.

Most people believe that national governments go bankrupt because
they spend too much or spend more than their income. This is what
colleges and universities teach and propaganda media parrot.

Furthermore, when governments “overspend,” they call it “deficit
spending.” But there is no such thing as national bankruptcy as the word
“bankruptcy” implies or as it applies to the individual.

There are certain key words and phrases cleverly put into use to
conceal the source of government finance: Federal budget, government
spending, government deficit and Federal income tax. Believe it or not,
none of these terms relates to government finance. But they do cover
government fraud on an unbelievable scale.

The terms Federal budget, government spending and government deficit
are meaningless when the Federal government and the central bank
(Federal Reserve) create money in the form of paper and numbers called
credit, in unlimited amounts. The government does not want public
knowledge of its monetary trickery. This is why universities teach
“accounting” and “finance.”

A simple axiom: To go broke or bankrupt in the national government
sense implies that there is a finite or limited supply of money
available to national governments. But money does not exist, and no one
has ever proven that it does. People think that paper “dollars” are
money. In truth, no one has ever seen a dollar. A dollar is not a thing.
It is a unit of measurement the same as the terms quart or ton.

Don’t believe me? Will you believe the Federal Reserve’s own publications from the 1970s?

“Today, most coin and currency is ‘fiat’ money — money by virtue of
government declaration and public acceptance. Fiat money isn’t valuable
in itself and doesn’t represent a claim on gold or silver. Fiat money is
acceptable because people know money’s true value is its purchasing
power — its ability to buy goods and services.” — The Story Of Money, p. 19, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Just got a call about the possibility of flying over to Israel next week to speak regarding the current
conflagration facing our best ally. What an incredible and special honor it would be to be able to personally let the people of Israel know
that we stand with them.

I
can think of no more
critical time for me to be in Israel and the Middle East, to lend my
voice and support to liberty, freedom, and the promise of "never
again." And to my brother and sister Warriors in the Israeli Defense
Forces (IDF), I have only one request, and that is to be able to visit
with
you in southern Israel and shake your hand -- especially Artillery and
Paratroop units. I also hope to visit with the families of the two dual
citizenship -- American and Israeli -- IDF Soldiers who gave the last
full measure of devotion to God and country.

As I have stated firmly, there is no equivocating on this issue, either you stand with Israel or with Islamic totalitarians
and jihadists. And I also want to express my support to the
leadership and people of Egypt for making the stand against our common
enemy, the
Muslim Brotherhood. I find it appalling that our current administration
is not releasing the promised Apache attack helicopters to you, while
they
released tanks and fighter jets to the Morsi government.

Israel is once again at war with those out to wipe her off the map. The nation that only wants to live in peace is fighting for
its very survival yet again as Barack HUSSEIN Obama funds her enemies
and ties her requests for emergency aid to an immigration bill that has NO
business being. And now with the IDF's discovery of more than 30 Hamas dug tunnels...tunnels dug to infiltrate Israel from under the border...it's more
important than ever to understand the truth about Gaza...one of the
so-called 'occupied' territories (the other being the West Bank).

But Obama and the media do NOT want the American people to know the
truth, so I will tell you that truth, and it starts with the fact that
Gaza is NOTHING but a complete and total welfare state as its economy
and budget exists solely at the discretion of foreign aid...especially
U.S. foreign aid. And the UN caters to those in Gaza, the countries of
the world cry for those in Gaza, and the media paints Israel as the
aggressor and the enemy of those in Gaza.

But those in Gaza...the 'so-called' Palestinians who the world cries
for...are simply an invented people...a people made-up to aid Yasser
Arafat in his PLO endeavors. In fact, the term 'Palestinian People' was
first used in the preamble of the 1964 PLO Charter
drafted in Moscow, and included a statement calling for the
destruction of the State of Israel...a statement that even today has NOT been removed from said charter. And only after this charter was affirmed by the first 422 members of the Palestinian
National Council...by members handpicked by the KGB...did the term
'Palestinians' became part of the media jargon.

And lest we forget...NO matter what the media and Obama say...today's so-called 'Palestinians' are just regular run-of-the mill
Arabs...NO different than any other Arabs who populate the Middle East.
And their sole claim to having their own state at the expense of Israel
is their warped belief that they're the original inhabitants of the
land...inhabitants that were driven out ages ago by those who actually
were the keepers of the land...that being the Jews...the Jews of the Old
Testament to be more specific...with Israel being a Jewish
nation two thousand years before islam was even a glimmer in mohamed's
twisted mind.

In fact, the 'so-called' Palestinians are descendants of muslim
conquerors who drove the Jews out of their ancestral homeland long ago...a
homeland the Jews had dominion over for one thousand years with a continuous
presence in that region for the past 3,300 plus years...making the
'so-called' Palestinians NOTHING but non-indigenous colonizers who
overran the land in tribal groups. And the very name Palestine itself is
just the Romanized version of the word ‘Philistia,’ the name given to
the region by Rome in the first century. And naming it for the
Philistines... who were enemies of the Jews...was done to add insult
to the injury of their enslavement.

The name Palestine stayed through the ensuing centuries as the name
recognized mostly by the European nations. And as more Arabs flooded into the area as the Byzantine empire was collapsing, even those settling in had
NO name for themselves other than just being called Arabs for
they knew they had NO history with the land upon which they now lived.
And at the end of the British Mandate period in 1947, when UN
Resolution 181 recommended a partition of the territory into two
states...one for the Jews (Israel) and one for the Arabs
(TransJordan)...the Arabs rejected said recommendation, because for
them it was all or NOTHING. So the Jews were given back what they, the
UN, considered to be the whole of their ancestral lands after the
nightmare of the Holocaust that defined WWII...and the Jews called the
whole of that land Israel...Israel...the name originally given to the
land by God.

And with once-called Palestine officially becoming the State of
Israel in 1948, every nation in the world recognized the new nation of
Israel by international agreements. In fact, the first time an Arab
country had any agreement of any kind with Israel... and that includes simple
trade agreements or even accepted Israeli help in times of a
disaster...they recognized the fact of Israel being a sovereign nation,
as this is what's known as ‘the right of recognition.’ And know that
every Arab nation has done so at one time or another to some degree over
the ensuing 65 plus years.

And that brings us back to the non-existent 'Palestinian' people
themselves. Once again, there are NO Palestinian people just as
there are NO Jordanian people, NO Egyptian people, and NO Syrian
people...just different clans living behind a set of borders drawn-up by
European in the 20th century. This translates into the simple
fact...which many still refuse to accept...that the 'so-called'
Palestinians really have NO national identity...NO cultural or true
religious identity that would make them a 'people'...as their identity
rests solely in their being Arabs...run-of-the-mill Arabs like all other
Arabs.

And the 'so-called' Palestinians are indeed devoid of all things that
make a people a nation for to be a nation one must have a history.
Remember, the Palestinians and what they call 'their Palestinian nation'
had NO founders (except Yasser Arafat on paper), NO borders, NO major
cities, and NO capital (and while they want Israel's capital of Jerusalem
as their own that will NEVER happen for while Jerusalem
is mentioned over 800 times in the Bible it is NOT mentioned even one time in
the qur'an). Their 'so-called' Palestinian nation has had NO succession of
presidents or leaders, NO economy but for the one other nations give
them, NO official currency, language, or religion. And Palestine as a
nation was NEVER recognized by any other nation as to actually being a
nation, so with NO Palestine existing today, the critical points of what caused its demise and
when did said demise occur NEVER happened... necessary points in the life and death of a true nation and its
people.

And most importantly...if today's 'so-called' Palestinians are
anything but a hodge-podge collection of Arabs from all over the Arab
world, and if they really do have a specific ethnic identity that gives
them the right to self-determination, then why didn't they ever try to
become an independent nation before the Six Day War and why did they only wait until after Arafat told them to push themselves on the world to do so.

And again I'll tell you why...because there is and NEVER was a
nation called Palestine and there is and NEVER was a
Palestinian people...period. There are terrorists who call themselves
Palestinians...Hamas being a case in point...there is the media giving
credence to the anything but creditable rants of those trying to sell
the Palestinian myth...and of course there is and will always be the
haters of Israel and of the Jewish people. Anti-Semitism has been reborn
NO thanks to an American president who stabs Israel in the back every
chance he gets.

And as the Palestinian myth has taken on a life of its own...so
must the Palestinian myth die NOT on its own but with the help of
America standing strong and proud with its friend and ally Israel. But I
won't hold my breath for that to happen with the man who currently
occupies the White House...sigh...